History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, 1885:
Col. Pinkney James, Rising Sun, was bred to the law, but not liking the
practice, soon abandoned it after being admitted. The training, and his
acquaintance with the law were afterward of great service to him in his active and
mercantile and manufacturing business life. The inclination of Col. James' mind
was to mechanism, and it might be said of him that he was a natural mechanic.
In an emigrant's guide, published in 1817, mention is made of Rising Sun, in
which it is stated that it "has a floating mill anchored abreast of the town."
This mill was constructed by Col. James, the power being derived from the
swift current in the river in front of the town. A few of the older inhabitants
will probably remember the saw mill that once stood on Arnold's Creek, a short
distance back of the town. That was built by Col. James. Some time previous
to 1830, Col. James built the flouring mill at the place now called Milton. It
was for many years known as "James' Mill", and had a reputation for good
work
that brought customers from many miles distant. This mill was at first an
exclusively water power mill, but its business grew to such proportions that
steam machinery had to be placed in it to provide against the contingency of a
scarcity of water. He was one of the proprietors of the steam flouring mill
erected at the southeast corner of Front and Second Streets. In 1833 he erected
and put in operation the cotton factory near the bank of the river, above
Fifth Street. The business was so successful that in a few ears he more than
doubled its capacity. About 1843 he built the large brick cotton factory on the
west side of Market Street, between fifth and Sixth Streets, and which was
destroyed by fire in 1849. Col. James established the first steamboat packet
line between Rising Sun and Cincinnati in 1834, and maintained it uninterruptedly
for some ten years. Several unsuccessful efforts to establish a steam packet
between the two places had proven failures. His first boat was the
"Dolphin", which made the round trip daily, except Sunday, between the two
places. The
"Dolphin" was built in 1834, at James’ Mill, on Laughrey Creek, and brought
out on the spring flood of that year. Her architect was Prince Athearn, who
had worked as an apprentice on the famed United States frigate "Constitution".
The steamboat "Renown", of which Col. James was one of the owners, as built at
the same place in the winter of 1835-36 under the same superintendence, and
floated to the river also on the spring flood. The "Renown" was a large boat
for the period and intended for the Cincinnati and New Orleans or the
Cincinnati and St. Louis trade. In 1838 Col. James built the "Herald", and
extended
his trade to Warsaw, Ky., making tri-weekly round trips. She was a larger and
better boat than the "Dolphin". The "Herald" ran but a few months.
She was
burned and sunk some ten miles below Cincinnati, on a downward trip, without any
loss of life. The work of enlarging the "Dolphin" was nearly finished when
the "Herald" burned. It was hurried to completion and she was put in as a
Rising Sun and Cincinnati packet. The next spring, 1839, the "Indiana" was
built
at Rising Sun, and put in as a packet the succeeding fall, and continued in
the trade until 1843, when she was sold to the trade between Maysville and
Cincinnati. In 1838 Col. James established an iron foundry at Rising Sun, under
the management of Mr. N. R. Stedman, recently deceased at Aurora, chiefly for
the making of cooking stoves, and which they shipped to all parts of the
country. The foundry also did a considerable business in making cotton-press screws.
During all the4se years, and with st4eamboat and manufacturing interests to
look after, Col. James was largely and almost all the time engaged in
merchandising and shipping. He was a man of wonderful energy and enterprise and of
great industry. As extensive and varied as was his business, he always held it
under his own control and directed the management of it. Col. James was a
public-spirited citizen, and in that respect a public man. He was foremost in
every enterprise calculated to improve or benefit the town, but he had an
aversion to holding public offices. He was several times a member of the State
Legislature, but accepted the place only when he could serve in the interest of
some important local matter, and was generally supported for that purpose by
both political parties. He was several times urged to become a candidate for
Congress, but always refused. He was a man of fine natural ability, well
educated, a fluent and forcible speaker, and if he had so chosen, could have been a
power at the bar or in the State and national legislative halls. He was born
in Frederick County, Md., May 6, 1794, and died December 25, 1851. "Col.
James was long known as one of our most active business men. The deceased was one
of the proprietors of the city in which he died, and was industriously
engaged for a lifetime in building up and increasing the trade of Rising Sun. The
community will sustain a loss in the death of this distinguished individual
that we fear will not soon be replaced."
Capt. Henry James, a pioneer citizen of southeastern Indiana, died at Rising
Sun, Dec. 2, 1880, in his eighty-fourth year. He as been long identified with
the growth and prosperity of Rising Sun, his father, John James, being its
founder. Capt. Henry James was the father of Dr. L.A. James of Cincinnati.
Capt. James, until within a few years past, had been identified with some of the
prominent and active business interests of that section, having been engaged
in merchandising, milling and as owner of steamboats, and having, by his
intelligent business management, added largely to the prosperity of the vicinity of
his home. He and his brother, Col. Pinkney James, now near thirty years
deceased, and his brother, Dr. B. James, who died some three or four years ago,
were well known to the early settlers of Cincinnati, as well as this vicinity,
having been educated in the schools there, and later as they entered upon active
business, to the merchants of thirty years ago.
Ohio County Cemeteries by Dillon R. Dorrell:
Pinkney James May 6, 1794 - Dec. 25, 1851 Plot 5, Union Cemetery, Rising
Sun